Weight training is a well known form of anaerobic exercise used primarily to increase muscle tone and strength. Weight training involves performing various exercises against resistance provided by an exercise mass. Various pieces of equipment have been developed and are well known for use in weight training. For example, barbells and dumbbells can be loaded with a desired number of weights and are then lifted by a user in various weight training exercises, e.g. chest presses, biceps curls, etc.
Traditionally, barbells and dumbbells simply comprised an elongated bar which could hold a desired number of weights on either end of the bar. Each weight typically comprised a circular plate having a hole in the middle to allow the weight to be slid onto and off of the bar. To adjust the weight on the barbell or the dumbbell, the user added or removed weights from each end of the bar until each end of the bar carried the desired number of weights. If the user wanted to change or adjust the weight frequently, this required the user to constantly be taking weights off of or putting weights on each end of the bar and then securing the weights in place. Since this is somewhat in-convenient and time consuming to do, the user might be tempted to forego a desired weight adjustment and use the barbell or dumbbell as is even though the weight carried by the barbell or dumbbell might not be the optimum weight for the particular exercise the user was about to perform.
The invention of the selectorized dumbbell by the Applicants was a step forward in weight training equipment. In a selectorized dumbbell, a selector is provided which can be moved by the operator between different positions to “select” or couple different numbers of weights to the handle of the dumbbell. After a particular selection is made and the user lifts the dumbbell, the handle carries with it only the weights selected by the user leaving behind the other weights in a rack or stand. The weights are nested together in the rack or stand and form a pair of spaced apart stacks of weight plates. The handle is dropped down between the stacks of weight plates prior to a weight selection operation. One type of selectorized dumbbell is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,064 issued to the Applicants hereof.
A trend in the exercise industry is to combine aerobic exercise with weight training for maximum benefit. Many gyms or fitness centers offer classes in which aerobic exercise might be done using a step that the user steps up onto and then down off of. This might then be followed by the user lifting a barbell in a chest or shoulder press exercise and then a dumbbell in a biceps curl exercise. Both barbells and dumbbells are desirably used because they each exercise different muscle groups in different ways.
However, in such combined aerobic/weight training classes, there may be up to 20 or 30 participants. Each participant might require different weights on the barbells and dumbbells during the weight training portion of the classes. Thus, there clearly is a logistical problem in having the exercise space accommodate all the needed equipment, i.e. steps, dumbbells, and barbells and their associated weights, for all the participants. Using selectorized dumbbells as described above can help since they are more compact and the weight carried by the dumbbell can be more quickly and easily adjusted. Nonetheless, this does not help the situation with respect to barbells whose weight is still adjusted in the traditional manner by adding or removing weights from each end of the bar.
Thus, a need exists for a barbell which can have its weight quickly and easily adjusted much like that of a selectorized dumbbell. In addition, it would be desirable that such a barbell not use a plurality of weights on each end of the bar, thus perhaps obviating the need for maintaining a separate supply of such weights. These needs are not confined to the large group exercise situation described earlier, but are also felt by an individual or family user. It would be a boon to any user to get the most versatility and flexibility possible from the user's weight training equipment, thus decreasing the amount of equipment the user needs to purchase and to store.